FLY app is 'not so bad' after all :-)

[umanbean]

disclaimer: I don't have any drones that use FLY yet... I only have an MPP.

When the 2nd gen Mavics and the FLY app first came out, I saw many posts of people complaining about the app and lack of the many settings/details previously in GO4.

I was going to install the app on my tablet 'just for kicks' and to play with it, but it didn't show up in the Playstore so I figured my tablet wasn't compatible (not enough horsepower).

Fast forward to last week... perusing the PhantomHelp compatibility chart, my tablet was listed as compatible with FLY, but still it was not in the Playstore. So I went and downloaded it directly from dji.com - and to my surprise, it works fine on this Huawei Mediapad M3 8"!

Been playing with it some, going through the menus/settings, etc and I can see myself being happy flying with it... just a matter of getting familiar with it. The main settings menu has kind of a 'Litchi feel' to it, with the submenu tabs across the top.

Now I can start thinking seriously about grabbing a Mini SE - IF the reviews on it are positive. If not, maybe a Mini 2?

 

[Deleted member 103366]

The fly app is no longer listed in google's playstore, fullstop. Have a look via a computer.

Personally I HATE the slide/slider adjustments of the fly app, I find them VERY difficult to set accurately and very easy to accidentally change.

I suspect that this ease of accidental adjustment was the reason I had an RTH height of 800+ft in one flight (Mavic Mini) and that led to the drone being 800+ft up over the sea, thankfully on a windless day.
So, be careful.

This looks to be a reasonable comparison DJI Mini SE vs DJI Mini 2: Which Mini is Right For You?

All the above said I would love to get back the "home lock" and "course lock" of the Go app (Phantom 3).

 

[umanbean]

Personally I HATE the slide/slider adjustments of the fly app, I find them VERY difficult to set accurately and very easy to accidentally change.

Yessir, I feel the same way about ALL apps with slider adjustments... UAV Forecast and TelloFPV etc. BTW, for anyone who has a Tello, check out TelloFPV... a great full-featured app, blows away the OEM Tello app.

I came to Mavics from the Phantom 3 also.

Thanks for the link, I'll check that out after I finish mowing my 'rather large' yard (~2 acres )

 

[Capt KO]

Playing with Fly and flying with Fly are two different animals. It’s a Pain, especially when updates make it unusable on your device. No comparison to Go4. IMO

 

[umanbean]

Playing with Fly and flying with Fly are two different animals. It’s a Pain, especially when updates make it unusable on your device. No comparison to Go4. IMO

Thank you for that! Perfectly worded too.

I kinda had my suspicions...

That's why I recently went with a used MPP instead of a gen2

SE it is then, play with it in the backyard, and hope FLY matures and fleshes out one of these days.

Is Litchi compatible with the Mini 2 yet?

 

[Saladshooter]

They are slowly catching the Fly app up to the GO4 app.... like it or not the Fly app appears to be the way DJI is going. We can only hope for an new "GO5" app for the Mavic 3 when it finally arrives and somehow get them to dump the sliders.

Some of the features in the Fly app are improvements. There is more finite control over the gimbal in the different flying modes, automated POI is better, digital video zoom that actually shows more detail than a cropped image etc.... What we need is for DJI to merge the best features of both apps going forward. They rarely listen to input but the time to bother DJI is now before they finalize whatever flight app they are going to settle on for the next Pro drone.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

especially when updates make it unusable on your device

and logs are encrypted. These behaviours are why mine is circa ver 1.1.6 I think. 1.2.xyz added the artificial horizon, which I love, but encrypted the logs so it came off and 1.1.6 went back on.

 

[Capt KO]

and logs are encrypted. These behaviours are why mine is circa ver 1.1.6 I think. 1.2.xyz added the artificial horizon, which I love, but encrypted the logs so it came off and 1.1.6 went back on.

Can’t figure how to roll back Fly with ios as assistant 2 rollback only seems to work with android? No more Fly auto updates for me. Installed Litchi beta (TestFlight) but no longer supported, guess they gave up. Too bad cuz it supposedly worked with mm2 and A2. Don’t want/need another $ device when mine is supposed to be FLY compatible. What a pain, getting confusing.

 

[Capt KO]

Thank you for that! Perfectly worded too.

I kinda had my suspicions...

That's why I recently went with a used MPP instead of a gen2

SE it is then, play with it in the backyard, and hope FLY matures and fleshes out one of these days.

Is Litchi compatible with the Mini 2 yet?

Litchi for dji beta (iOS) no longer supported when I just loaded it, so guess not. Bummer but didn’t try android.

 

[umanbean]

Litchi for dji beta (iOS) no longer supported when I just loaded it, so guess not. Bummer but didn’t try android.

Using an android phone with an older version of Litchi, I went to the Playstore and no mention of a Beta. Latest version is 4.18.0-g, updated on Nov 23, 2020. Listed as compatible with the MM1, M2Z/Pro, Air1, MP1, and all the Phantom 4's and 3's.

As I'm sure you know, sometimes an 'update' is a step backwards (losing features you like/use or with added restrictions etc.) so I haven't updated in a quite a while... my version is 4.1.2 with no mention of a date. Flipped through the rather long EULA and at the end it said Last updated: August 09, 2016... but I'm pretty sure that's the EULA date, not the date of the app version installed.

(Just looked on my tablet and it's on v4.10.0-g) I haven't looked for a Changelog so don't even know if there is one.

I wonder if DJI has any plans to ever actually release the SDK for the MM2.....

 

[Deleted member 103366]

Can’t figure how to roll back Fly with ios as assistant 2 rollback only seems to work with android? No more Fly auto updates for me. Installed Litchi beta (TestFlight) but no longer supported, guess they gave up. Too bad cuz it supposedly worked with mm2 and A2. Don’t want/need another $ device when mine is supposed to be FLY compatible. What a pain, getting confusing.

I don't think you can roll IOS back, with Android I have the APK's on my computer.
One thing to note for Android, removing the app via the 'remove app' button leaves the App's data storage file system on the phone intact i.e. the dji.go.v5 folder. So, once the App has been removed I backup the "FlightRecord" folder or its contents, from dji.go.v5, to computer and then, via the computer, remove the dji.go.v5 folder and reinstall with the chosen APK.
The logs can be copied back to the phone if desired but I do not return any logs written under 1.2 or later, I can't remember why but I do that but I left myself a note not to.

 

[Capt KO]

Using an android phone with an older version of Litchi, I went to the Playstore and no mention of a Beta. Latest version is 4.18.0-g, updated on Nov 23, 2020. Listed as compatible with the MM1, M2Z/Pro, Air1, MP1, and all the Phantom 4's and 3's.

As I'm sure you know, sometimes an 'update' is a step backwards (losing features you like/use or with added restrictions etc.) so I haven't updated in a quite a while... my version is 4.1.2 with no mention of a date. Flipped through the rather long EULA and at the end it said Last updated: August 09, 2016... but I'm pretty sure that's the EULA date, not the date of the app version installed.

(Just looked on my tablet and it's on v4.10.0-g) I haven't looked for a Changelog so don't even know if there is one.

I wonder if DJI has any plans to ever actually release the SDK for the MM2.....

If you open the Litchi website and tap Developer website, the beta version is listed at the top. It opens but sadly it’s no longer active for ios. I did not try the android version though. Looks like they pulled it, after loading it says no longer supported and no active beta. Oh well, was worth a try. Anyways FLY works on my other tablet until I upgrade my iPad mini to 5. I’m over it, too much stress just to fly a drone.
Gone fishing ?

 

[thispilothere]

How do you access the settings without being connected to a compatible drone? It won't let me do anything and with some functions, like hyperlapse waypoints, it makes me takeoff before I can even see them.

 

[umanbean]

How do you access the settings without being connected to a compatible drone?

And that's the way it should be (has to be). Some (most) settings are stored in the drone, not the RC or app.

and with some functions, like hyperlapse waypoints, it makes me takeoff before I can even see them.

And again, the way it should be... the drone uses it's onboard GPS to determine where you want the waypoint to be (unless you're using Litchi or such and pre-plan a mission on a map).

Both seem reasonable to me.

 

[Skybuyer]

Playing with Fly and flying with Fly are two different animals. It’s a Pain, especially when updates make it unusable on your device. No comparison to Go4. IMO

I agree- but with one exception. The Fly app is much easier and intuitive to adjust the yaw rate and smoothness for each flying mode. On Go4 there is the sensitivity and EXP sort of work unintuitively together. I have never gotten that down and find Fly to be easier in that regard. I am certainly not a fan of the way exposure is now adjusted in the Fly App and liked it better before, even though getting to the menu was clumsier.